The Site of the Mission of las Cabreras
Wilson County, Wilson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A ranch chapel visited regularly and maintained by the Franciscan missionaries of San Antonio near the ancient settlement of Las Islitas (now Graytown); attended by the Canary Islanders, their descendants, Mexicans, natives and other living in this vicinity; established in the middle-eighteenth century.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the mid-1700s, Franciscan missionaries from San Antonio regularly rode out to a ranch chapel near the settlement of Las Islitas, today's Graytown. The little chapel served a mingled congregation of Canary Islanders and their descendants, Mexicans, Native people, and other settlers scattered across the Cibolo country. It was one of the ranch and outpost chapels through which Spanish colonial faith and community radiated beyond the walls of the great missions.
Why it matters
It marks how Spanish colonial religion and society reached the ranching frontier through humble outstations, binding Canary Islander, Mexican, and Native communities into the fabric of early Texas.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
San Pedro Creek
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In 1709 Franciscan fathers Antonio Olivares and Isidro Espinosa found an Indian campsite at the springs that feed this creek, naming it San Pedro and marking the spot as ideal for settlement. In 1718 Olivares and Governor Martín de Alarcón founded Mission San Antonio de Valero and the presidio of Villa de Béxar nearby, and by the 1720s an acequia system drew water from the springs for soldiers, missionaries, and Canary Island colonists. The creek and its springs remained central to San Antonio's life, later drawing the city's first streetcar line to the popular San Pedro Springs park.
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